Boris Johnson - I don't get it

TeddyTedson

I don't get it.

The man is a bumbling idiot. Yet the Brits seem to love him and are happy for him to appear as their representation. I'd be embarrassed if I was English seeing him on the likes of the Daily show coming across even stupider and out of touch than their very own George Bush.

Does anyone get "it"? I'm aware our own crowd do their best to make a show of us on an international stage, from Enda playing with his phone to Delaney asking to be number "thirty three" in his best Irish accent.
But people loathe these people for feeding the old "Paddy" image.

So I just don't get it. Is he secretly very intelligent? He must have a brain somewhere in that head....right?

Praetorian Saighdiuir

And our politicians are better?

Boris is a bit of craic, our lot should be shot!

4zn76tysfajdxp

TeddyTedson wrote: »

I don't get it.

The man is a bumbling idiot.

It's a front so journalists will go easy on him in interviews or so he can deflect serious questions in debates.

Lapin

TeddyTedson wrote: »

I don't get it.

The man is a bumbling idiot..........

No he's not.

The man is a highly intellegent politician.
His personality is a major factor in winning him votes and he knows it.

Only an idiot would think he is a bumbling idiot.

ejmaztec

TeddyTedson wrote: »

I don't get it.

The man is a bumbling idiot. Yet the Brits seem to love him and are happy for him to appear as their representation. I'd be embarrassed if I was English seeing him on the likes of the Daily show coming across even stupider and out of touch than their very own George Bush.

Does anyone get "it"? I'm aware our own crowd do their best to make a show of us on an international stage, from Enda playing with his phone to Delaney asking to be number "thirty three" in his best Irish accent.
But people loathe these people for feeding the old "Paddy" image.

So I just don't get it. Is he secretly very intelligent? He must have a brain somewhere in that head....right?

He's only pretending to be a bumbling idiot, and people like him are the most dangerous.

okfine

Borrisauraus Rex-Banter Man:(

brummytom

TeddyTedson wrote: »

Yet the Brits seem to love him and are happy for him to appear as their representation.

Not this Brit.

So I just don't get it. Is he secretly very intelligent? He must have a brain somewhere in that head....right?

No.

The man's a buffoon. There's a definite mentality, globally, not just here, where a large amount of people worship idiocy and are scared of intelligence. People would like it to be an act rather than admit the people of London voted this mentally deficient oaf into such a high office.

God forbid he ever does become leader of the Tories, as is predicted by some, it's led by enough brain-dead toffs without the worst one of them all being at the top.

latenia

The bumbling toff image is a bit of an exaggeration:

As a child, Johnson suffered from severe deafness and had to undergo several operations to have grommets inserted in his ears. He was reported to have been rather quiet as a child.[2] He was educated at the European School in Brussels,[16] at Ashdown House School and at Eton College, where he was a King's Scholar. He read Classics at Oxford, as a Brackenbury scholar and was elected President of the Oxford Union at his second attempt.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boris_Johnson

humbert

Listen to him give a speech and then ask yourself if you think he's an idiot.

dsmythy

He must be doing a good job as a Tory managing to be elected as London Mayor.

risteard7

i think boris is funny, would be great craic to have a few pints with

juan.kerr

TeddyTedson wrote: »

The man is a bumbling idiot. Yet the Brits seem to love him and are happy for him to appear as their representation.

The 'Brits', or the Londoners who voted for him in the mayoral election?

I like him anyway, at the very least I'd have voted for him to keep Livingstone out.

Would have no problem voting for him if the opposition was Norris or Higgins or Robinson etc.

4zn76tysfajdxp

brummytom wrote: »

God forbid he ever does become leader of the Tories, as is predicted by some, it's led by enough brain-dead toffs without the worst one of them all being at the top.

Apart from Cameron, of course.

Michael Scofield

I think he's brilliant

TeddyTedson

humbert wrote: »

Listen to him give a speech and then ask yourself if you think he's an idiot.

I'm watching him give a speech now in Birmingham and think he must have an awful lot of good people around him.

DyldeBrill

He's good at what he does, knows how to win a crowd over

Props in my books!

TeddyTedson

Alivia Thoughtless Ash wrote: »

It's a front so journalists will go easy on him in interviews or so he can deflect serious questions in debates.

I'm sure he plays it up, but I don't think it's complete front.

For somebody who people are saying is no idiot, you have to admit he does say an awful lot of idiotic things. Especially for a "highly intelligent politician".

hooradiation

TeddyTedson wrote: »

I'd be embarrassed if I was English seeing him on the likes of the Daily show coming across even stupider and out of touch than their very own George Bush.

You take a friendly, fluff piece of an interview - in which Boris handled himself well - and decide this it's a testament to all his failings?

I don't much care for the guy either, but you might want to look a bit harder before selecting your examples next time.

Jimoslimos

DyldeBrill wrote: »

He's good at what he does, knows how to win a crowd over

Must. Resist. Godwin!

Behind the bumbling facade he's a competent politician, not someone I'd trust though and doesn't have any great love for London. He's being groomed as a potential celeb PM candidate should Labour find anyone with a bit of spark and charisma (unlikely).

Dante

I always thought he was regarded as a bit of a joker in the UK and that nobody really took him too seriously, with all the 'ah theres ol Boris at it again' type stuff. I know he's highly intelligent having been schooled in Eton and Oxford and all that, but he seems to play up that wacky joker persona to the max which I find makes it impossible to take him seriously, Mayor of London or not.

Now I keep hearing how he is tipped to be the next leader of the Tory party etc...Surely bit to Jesus there are more suitable candidates for the PM job than this man!? Just try imagine him with Putin, Merkel and the lads at the G8 summit trying to talk about the international security concerns or EU fiscal policies...

eth0

"Change gears at 6,000 RPM"

Legend.

TeddyTedson

hooradiation wrote: »

You take a friendly, fluff piece of an interview - in which Boris handled himself well - and decide this it's a testament to all his failings?

I don't much care for the guy either, but you might want to look a bit harder before selecting your examples next time.

Nit picking, come on you know the point I'm making.
He's overly facetious.

Truman Burbank

DyldeBrill wrote: »

He's good at what he does

He gets the job done = re-election. Simple really.

Chucky the tree

It's a great act. Very few people could go up against Paxman and have some banter with him and completely nullify him.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vA7e3pwQtnM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYGVrfcAOdE&feature=related

Mars Bar

My absolute favourite Boris moment.

Pottler

Under the bufoon facade is a pretty ruthless and highly self-regarding Politician - apparently he has a fairly fierce temper and is hugely self-confident. Being from the "upper classes" he needs a disguise, to avoid alienating the average voter- so he chooses bumbling. But he's not. Not at all.

peil

juan.kerr wrote: »

The 'Brits', or the Londoners who voted for him in the mayoral election?

I like him anyway, at the very least I'd have voted for him to keep Livingstone out.

Would have no problem voting for him if the opposition was Norris or Higgins or Robinson etc.

What's wrong with Michael D?

Truman Burbank

DaaaaaaaaaaN wrote: »

Just try imagine him with Putin, Merkel and the lads at the G8 summit trying to talk about the international security concerns or EU fiscal policies...

He could get some tips from Wallace and Adams :rolleyes:

My name is URL

The only thing I don't like about him is that he's socially conservative.. or at least wants others to be.

Pumpkinseeds

I like Boris and he is a bright and articulate man. So he looks a little bedraggled, I think it just adds to his charm. He's like an overgrown scruffy puppy, you want to be cross with him and yet you can't. That in itself is an admirable achievement for a politician.:)

Shenshen

Entertainment value.
I think the Brits have realised that all politicians are basically twits, and just went for the funniest one.

mike65

Wot? No wiff waff?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uix9kXIMVRM

They mocked him but he was right about the Olympics

Jorah

Jimoslimos wrote: »

Must. Resist. Godwin!

Behind the bumbling facade he's a competent politician, not someone I'd trust though and doesn't have any great love for London. He's being groomed as a potential celeb PM candidate should Labour find anyone with a bit of spark and charisma (unlikely).

You should read his book about London. He loves the city and its history.

juan.kerr

peil wrote: »

What's wrong with Michael D?

You mean aside from him being a tosser?

Lapin

TeddyTedson wrote: »

For somebody who people are saying is no idiot, you have to admit he does say an awful lot of idiotic things.

I have yet to see a high profile politician who hasn't put their foot in it at some stage.

TeddyTedson

Lapin wrote: »

I have yet to see a high profile politician who hasn't put their foot in it at some stage.

It's regular with him. Just like it was with George W Bush.
What's your take on Bush?

el dude

Notebook He's a bit like the political version of Jedward.

Public imagine aside, whatever constitutes being a good mayor would be, is he one?

juan.kerr

TeddyTedson wrote: »

It's regular with him. Just like it was with George W Bush.
What's your take on Bush?

I have fond memories of George W.

He gets a lot of the blame for certain policies implemented by the previous administration.

Lapin

TeddyTedson wrote: »

What's your take on Bush?

A highly unintellegent politician.

But comparing Boris Johnson with George W Bush is not comparing like with like.

Reindeer

Bush makes Boris look like freakin' Socrates.

Ellis Dee

He's a really cute hoor who is very good at playing the eejit. The only thing really going for him is that Cameron is such an inept tosser.:)

The only worrying thing is that he just might become the Tory leader and perhaps PM one day, but I suppose Sir Humphrey will see to it that he doesn't rock the boat too much.:rolleyes:

Shryke

Here's an extract from an opinion piece I read by Suzanne Moore for the Guardian back in September. It's a good read on Boris.

"Undoubtedly Boris is brilliant and funny and clever. Before he was so powerful he would liven up many a boring debate on the euro with the admission that he had gone into a deep trance. Detail is not his forte; the big picture, the grand symbolic gesture, is. His outbursts of honesty hide his imperial attitude. They hide his utter ruthlessness and the fact that he a politician, not a gameshow panellist.

His record shows that he is not above betraying people he has worked for, in one way or another. He promised more than he can deliver. He did not deliver the Olympics but is sucking up vast amounts of credit for them. His hack trick of winging it has come into its own. The level at which he needs to be in control is frightening and that control combined with his intellect is what makes him a superb writer. The clownishness masks the absolute need to win. Once he got me into a party. Some Tory do, not his party, let me make that clear, and he said I could stay for 20 minutes. I was happily chatting as I knew many people there when he whispered after exactly 20 minutes: "Your time is up." That's bonhomie for you.

Petty but telling, I felt, and not in the least shambolic. If you don't know his core of steel then rewind the tape of the conversation he had with self-confessed "potential psychopath" Darius Guppy. Guppy is after a telephone number for someone who has too much information on him. "If this guy is seriously hurt, I am going to be ****ing furious," says Boris. Guppy reassures him it won't be "intensive care". Just cracked ribs. Nice."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/sep/12/boris-johnson-no-laughing-matter

DyldeBrill

Jimoslimos wrote: »

Must. Resist. Godwin!

Behind the bumbling facade he's a competent politician, not someone I'd trust though and doesn't have any great love for London. He's being groomed as a potential celeb PM candidate should Labour find anyone with a bit of spark and charisma (unlikely).

True but at least he's over the pond instead of here.

I can laugh at London all I want

Lapin

DyldeBrill wrote: »

I can laugh at London all I want

But London will always have the last laugh.

Greatest city in the world.

Lapin

Lapin wrote: »

A highly unintellegent politician.

But comparing Boris Johnson with George W Bush is not comparing like with like.

Yeah, a grade A moron

Bush attended Yale University from 1964 to 1968, graduating with an A.B. in history. In the fall of 1973, Bush attended the Harvard Business School, where he earned a Master of Business Administration. He is the only U.S. President to have earned an M.B.A

4zn76tysfajdxp

Angie Plain Tackle wrote: »

Yeah, a grade A moron

Bush attended Yale University from 1964 to 1968, graduating with an A.B. in history. In the fall of 1973, Bush attended the Harvard Business School, where he earned a Master of Business Administration. He is the only U.S. President to have earned an M.B.A

An educated moron, then.

latenia

Angie Plain Tackle wrote: »

Yeah, a grade A moron

Bush attended Yale University from 1964 to 1968, graduating with an A.B. in history. In the fall of 1973, Bush attended the Harvard Business School, where he earned a Master of Business Administration. He is the only U.S. President to have earned an M.B.A

Yale has a notoriously low failure rate, particularly amongst students from 'elite families.' Remember how Mr Burns was almost able to get his moron son enrolled-that was satirical of how it's quite possible to buy your degree there. Anyone with the cash can get a Harvard MBA.

garbanzo

Not too fond of the Irish by all accounts !

latenia

latenia wrote: »

Yale has a notoriously low failure rate, particularly amongst students from 'elite families.' Remember how Mr Burns was almost able to get his moron son enrolled-that was satirical of how it's quite possible to buy your degree there. Anyone with the cash can get a Harvard MBA.

No.
An MBA anywhere is expensive but they don't just give you the degree when you hand it over, you work for it.

mike65

garbanzo wrote: »

Not too fond of the Irish by all accounts !

Only the self appointed Larndarn Murphia who he thought were dining at the tax-payers expense (they were'nt as it happened)

http://www.newstatesman.com/blogs/the-staggers/2012/03/irish-mayor-dinner-johnson

poeticseraphim

Was he not involved in a threat to some man's safty or something??

There was a recorded phone converstation were someone getting beaten up was discussed with Darius Guppy another nutter.

' In 1990, he undertook to beat up a tabloid journalist who had been attempting to smear members of his family.[8][18][19] During a telephone call he asked Boris Johnson to provide the journalist's address. The address was never provided, and the attack never took place, but a tape of the conversation was leaked to the press.

He is not brilliant but not stupid..the expectation is so low he looks better..but the thing is men can have a type of hubris that makes them fail to see their real stupidity so they feel they must fake it to appeal or to get off lightly.

He is not very honourable at all.